Car-coupling.



R. D. GALLAGHBR, JR. GAR GOUPLING.

APPLIoATloN FILED JULY 17, 1011.

1 ,107,602. Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

Figi- I l l `up the load.

UNTE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD 1).,GALIAGHER, JR., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CAR-COUPLING.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Riemann D. Gan Lacuna, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and usetul Improvements in Car-Couplers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to car coul'ilers, and with respect to its more specitic features, to car couplers oi the `vertical plane type.

One of the objects ot' the invention is the provision oi' a simple and ellicient coupler ot' the character' referred to.

Another object of the invention is the production of a practical coupler which, while `conforming to the shape and dimensions ot' an universal coupler, shall be stronger and less liable to` tracture than prior constructions. j

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations o't elements and arrangement ottl parts which will be exemplified in the construction hercinat'ter set forth, and the scope ot' the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown one of various possible embodiments ot this invention,-Figure l represents a plan View of a coupler embodying the invention; and Fig. 2, a front View on a reduced scale.

The modern car coupler oit the vertical Specification of Letters Patent,

Application filed July 17, 1911.

plane type, of which the Janney coupler is` an example, comprises a drat't element or shank l which is adapted to he securely attached to a car body 2 in any etlicient and practical manner, usually by the interposition of resilient elements to gradually take one side of the shank and usually in a horizontal plane is an extenslon 3, and a coupling jaw or knuckle 4l 1s mounted on the Projecting forwardly 'trom` extension 3 so as to swing in a substantially horizontal plane. The knuckle is made ot a substantial piece ol steel and comprises an integral tail or heel 5 angularly arranged with respect to the portion 4. Tu the preierred construction the knuckle is pivotally connected to the extension 3 by means of a Patented Aue'. 1 8, 1914. seriai No. 638,797.

knuckle pin 6 which passes through a cvlin drical bearing opening 7 .in the knuckle, the extension 3 comprising upper and lower pertorated arms between which the bearing portion oit the knuckle is held by the knuckle pin. W hen in coupling position the knuckle extends transversely o'l the car at substair tially right angles to the extension 2S, and a step'or locking' pin 8 is so mounted in the shank that in one position it intersects the path olt thc heel o't' the knuckle and maintains it in coupling` position as against any Vtorre tending to rotate the knuckle on its pivotal axis so as to open the knuckle. When the pin 8 .is lit'ted or removed, the knuckle may be turned on its pivotal axis so as to project at a more obtuse angle to the longitudinal extent ot the shank, and in this latter position the coupler is open or in uncoupled position.

lhe coupler clement illustrated in the drawings is to be regarded as merely one o'l many dillercnt kinds in which the invention `may be emboiflied, and it :is to be understood that though the invention is illustrated and described in connection with a single coupling and one o't the Janney type,i this is 'tor conveniemre only, and the invention may be embodied in all couplers of the type rerl'erred to, two oit' which are usually itound on all railway cars, one at either end.

Then a car is to be transported over ditferent railway systems, the style oit' its coupler becomes important, as upon it depends the 'facility or' its accommodalion to the equipment of the trains in connection with which it may travel. Great dilliculty in this respect `vas experienced in the past on account of the ditlerent models and dimeu sions ot' the couplers ot' the dill'erent railways, and this led to the adoption ot a standard design and dimensions oi coupler by many ditlercnt railways, a standard which is now almost universal in this country. It is unnecessary to explain Vin detail just what the standard is, it being su'lticient to remark that all standard couplers .must full the requirements outlined by the Master Car Builders Association, one ol which requirements is known as the standard contour line, Viz., the outline formed by the periphery of the knuckle and a portion of the shank. No matter how the dit 'ferent couplers may vary in other details, this contour liuc must bc substantially preserved, and hence the transverse horizontal dimension through the knuckle is limited and cannot exceed a certain amount. That part of the shank adjacent the knuckle is also limited for a similar reason.

The horizontal dimension being fixed, any attemptto increase the strength of the knuckle by increasing its transverse width is impracticable, though it is found that a substantial increase in this section would often be desirable, as the strains to' which knuckles are subjected cause their fracture in places which an increased cross section would lessen, if not entirely prevent. in the standard coupler, the knuckle or coupling jaw before referred to is made of steel and is provided with a pivot hole or opening 7 and a knuckle pin or pivot pin 6 passes through the extension 3 of the shank and through the opening in the knuckle, being retained in place by any suitable means, the knuckle and shank being thus hinged together. The pivot opening 7 weakens the knuckle, and when the knuckle ruptures, more often than not the fracture is a transverse one intersecting this pivot opening. The relative position of the knuckle and the shank, when in coupling position, is such that the load, such as a train of cars, tends to bend the knuckle, and heavy strains are set up which must be resisted by the material of the knuckle or fracture will result.

It is a practice to locate the axis of the pivotal opening in the knuckle at such a point in the transverse vertical cross section subjected to the greatest resultant stress that the distances from the axis to the opposite faces of the knuckle measured along the cross section are equal. 'Thus in a symmetrical knuckle the tendency to rupture along the cross section is resisted by material of equal cross section on either side of the pivot. By locating the pivotal axis of the knuckle at one side of the central portion of the cross section of the knuckle, as shown in the drawings, so that unequal cross-sectional areas are provided on opposite sides of the pivotal opening, the knuckle is strengthened at its weak cross section and offers greater resistance to transverse fracture through the pivotal point. In the embodiment illustrated, the opening is placed nearer the convex side of the knuckle, so that the greater cross-sectional area of material will be found on that side which is subjected to the greater tensile stress. lt will be observed that the described location of the pivotal opening does not require any change in the standard contour lines, which remain as before.

By offsetting the pivotal axis in the manner described, the tensile stress due to the bending moment of the load is resisted by a greater amount or thickness of material in the normal line of the tensile stress, and in that cross section substantially perpenincarica dicular to the line of the maximum stress due to the load, for a knuckle pivoted as described. The tensile stress onV the load side of the pivotal opening is composed of the general tensile stress of the draft force, augmented by the tensile stress due to the bending moment on that side, while on the opposite side the draft tensile stress is in part counterbalanced by the compressive stress due to the bending moment on said other side, so that the gain in effective resistance to rupture is independent of the materials of which the coupler is made. As, however, the standard coupler may be made of steel which has a greaterl compressive than tensile strength, the advantage of the described location of the pivotal opening is even more marked. Also by reason of the construction of the knuckle, the compressive stresses may *be somewhat greater than the tensile stresses. y

In the coupler shown, wherein an angular coupling" jaw is employed, it will be observed that the pivotal axis is offset from the central vertical plane of the jaw toward the convex side thereof, and while any offset in the direction referred to is advantageous, the best results are thought to yfollow the location of the axis of theopening at such a point that the cross sections on opposite sides of the pivot are such that their ultimate strengths are proportional. to the stresses set up therein. Thus there is no greater tendency to failure on one side than on the other for material of equal tensile and compressive strength, and when material is employed in which the compressive strength is greater than the tensile strength, as in some forms oflsteel, the axis may be located even further from the central vertical plane. In other words, these cross sections are so proportioned that with any given load upon the coupler, the stress in each cross section bears the same ratio to the stress under which the metal Wouldvfail or give wayy at that cross section. It will thus be seen that by the above described apparatu' are accomplished, among other things, the objects hereinbefore referred to.V

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that-all. matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting' sense. It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In an apparatus of the character described, a knuckle having a pivotal axis, said axis being so located as to dispose material on opposite sides thereof such that the resistances of the material to failure under the load are proportional to the stresses set up in the cross sections by the load.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, draft means adapted to be secured to a car, and comprising a pivoted coupling jaw, the pivotal axis being so located that the stress in the material on each side of the axis bears the same ratio to the stress luider which the material would fail on that side.

3. An apparatus of the character' dcscribed comprising, in combination, a shank, and a knuckle piroted thereto, the pivotal axis of the knuckle being` so located as to dispose material on opposite sides thereof such that the resistances of the `material to failure under the load are proportional to the stresses set up in the cross section by the load.

4. .An apparatus of the character de scribed comprising, in combination, a shank, and a knuckle pivoted thereto, the pivotal axis of the knuckle being so located as to dispose material on opposite sides thereof, such that the stress in each cross section lthrough the pivotal axis bears the same ratio to the stress under which the material would fail at that cross section.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a shank, a knuckle having an opening to receive a knuckle pin, a. knuckle pin pivotally connecting the shank to the knuckle and passing through said opening, said opening being located at such point in the cross section of the knuckle as to provide cross sectional areas on opposite sides of the opening such that the resistances of the material to failure under the load are proportional to the stresses set up in the cross sections by the load.

G. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a shank, a knuckle haring an opening to receive a knuckle pin, a knuckle pin pivotally connecting the shank and the knuckle and passing through said opening, and a lock for the knuckle, said opening being located at such point in the cross section of the knuckle as to provide cross-scctional areas on opposite sides of the opening, such that the resistances of the material to failure under the load are proportional to the stresses set up in the crosssections by the load.

In testimony whereof I allix my signature, in the presence of two Witnesses.

RICHARD D. GALLAGI'IER, JR.

Witnesses J. W. ANDERSON, HELEN M.. SEAMANS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of atents, Washington, D. C. 

